In March Under The Southern Stars kicks off and will see the international tour play 12 shows in regional towns and capital cities across the country. The man responsible for bringing us the first national tour with international acts since Covid began is long time promoter and event organiser, Andrew McManus, a man that like the rest of the world wasn’t prepared for what was to come when boarders shut, lockdowns were put in place and the mass cancelation of events. Jump forward to 2022 and we are only weeks away from Bush, Stone Temple Pilots, Cheap Trick and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Rose Tattoo & Electric Mary being on stage, and Andrew can mark it off as another successful tour completed. MFA were fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to ask Andrew a few questions about the Under The Southern Stars, the issues Covid created for his tour and the opportunity to join Adelaide’s Fringe Festival.
FALSE LONDON is a band born out of necessity during the midst of a pandemic, established as a four piece from all corners of Greater Sydney and described as '“outspoken, unafraid and radically honest’ the band work hard to make sure their music is in sync with those labels and is demonstrated perfectly by their latest single ‘Solid Gold’. MFA wanted to know more about this new band with the blindingly bright future so we asked the False London boys a few questions about the bands formation, what festivals they would like to be rostered on for and the ultimate collab request…. Elton John.
Dubbel Drop have followed up their previous releases: ‘Mighty Knight’ & ‘Ecstasy’ with the brand new Disco-House track, ‘BACK 2 U’. The Melbourne duo have been gaining momentum since their summer campaign with food giants, McDonalds, and they have no plans to reign that in any time soon, so we had a chat to the Dubbel Drop boys about the “fuzzy feels” ‘Back 2 U’ gives out, the fun they have remixing other peoples songs and the pressures behind big name support.
CoreyTopp has been an event king from an early age, so REMINISCE doesn’t come as any surprise to those who know him. 2022 sees REMINISCE celebrate it’s tenth year and wow do they have a party planned to mark the milestone. The March 19th event, will see the iconic festival countdown the top 50 in it’s iconic home of The Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne with Artists such as Armand Van Helden , Example, John Course & bunch of brilliant local talent. Naturally we jumped at the chance to pick the brain of the man, the myth , the legend himself to ask him about the achievement of REMINISCE - 10Years, the journey from “Backyard to the Bowl” and what the future looks like for one of Australia’s most loved events.
Music Festivals Australia caught up with Jeff Gutt via. Zoom meeting from L.A. to discuss Stone Temple Pilots, the weigh in on Core vs. Purple and what it means to carry on the great STP legacy.
These days a party isn’t a party with out Australia’s favourite Larrikins/Party Starters, Bread Gang being on site. From their crazy interviews in the search for the country’s “Loosest Town” to the release of their singles ‘Rockstar’ & ‘Bang Bang’, the Bread Gang are definitely the “It” people of the moment and we wanted to find out a little more about the lads so we sat down with half the pair and hit Juzzy with some questions about the bands music, their love of festivals and what they have planned for the rest of 2022.
HOOKS is an intriguing new electronic project and the release of ‘Forever’ (via XELON Entertainment) serves as the perfect introduction. In the style of virtual band Gorillaz and duo Daft Punk – HOOKS music asks its audience to focus on the art and allow mystery and intrigue to surround the creatives themselves. In order to lift the lid on the mystery slightly we spoke to HOOKS about ‘Forever’, the creative vision behind the project and the hopes of a Winston Surfshirt collab.
THIS THAT Sandstone Point happening on Saturday the5th of March and THIS THAT Newcastle, on Saturday the 12th of March are 100% approved to go ahead and we don’t know who’s more excited, the punters or the artists themselves. Four piece garage rock band, Pacific Avenue are set to hit the THIS stage at both shows and their so glad to be back performing to live audiences especially in the festival environment they love so much. We chucked some questions at Pacific Avenue about THIS THAT, the preparation needed for a festival like THIS THAT and who they would like to Colab with from the awesome lineup.
Multi-disciplinary artist Driftwood has released his new single ‘Bremfields’, featuring British rapper Still Greedy. The creative track is a perfect addition to Driftwood’s already impressive independent catalogue of music, and the accompanying self-directed, and self-edited music video can only be described as visually amazing. We sat down with Driftwood to talk about the meaning behind ‘Bremfields’, the highs and lows of being an unsigned artist and the possibility of a new album this year.
Montana Sharp has released her new single Way Of The Whiffler, off her highly-anticipated debut EP, Blood Moon. A clever exploration of the Old English word whiffler as it pertains to the confusion and ever-changing opinions of youth. With Blood Moon set for release on the 11th of February we took time out with Montana to ask about being labelled a ‘musician’s musician’ , closing a chapter and her new genre Epic Pop.
Australian Indie rockers Maison Hall have released their newest offering, Montreux is their first release since their debut album It Was Never About Me in 2017 and is the precursor to the lads east coast tour in February. The duo, made up of Ben Byron and Joe Kneipp, have also created a colourful, eccentric video that accompanies the track beautifully. We sat down with Joe to ask him about the reformation of Maison Hall,Montreux and about their first show at Ric’s Bar.
YANZO is one of Australia’s brightest rising techno DJ’s . Her fun and evolving approach has landed her a slot on the lineup of a brand new event for Melbourne, SHELTER. SHELTER is set to take place in the Seaworks Precinct in a purpose renovated building, which will hopefully be home of many more SHELTER’s to come. We spoke to YANZO about the opportunity of playing SHELTER, what can fans expect from her set and her hopes to learn how to program UMEK’s signature kick.
Marvell are a band that is engaging, funny and passionate, and if you haven’t given the Sydney rockers a listen you need to.. it’s refreshing. Their journey so far is a sad but determined one with one of their mates and former band members battling cancer, they have used the struggle to inspire others and show their support to all going through the same fight. Just before the holidays we got the chance to ask the Marvell Boys a few questions about their song ‘Needle’ and the ‘Comfort is King’ EP, the band’s history and how a Patrick Swayzee pillow can make or break a tour.
Boo Seeka, the man, the myth, the legend has a big year ahead of him with a string of festival performances to start it off, a new album and fingers crossed a tour. His new single ‘Dream’ is the first taste of what’s to come from Boo and it’s a song he is incredibly proud of, with it encompassing beautiful floaty lyrics paired with classic electronic production. We got the chance to talk to Boo Seeka about the writing of the new album, the essentials for touring and what fans can look forward to in 2022.
A brand-new electronic music festival, “Mi Casa Su Casa” has been confirmed to take place inthe gorgeous beachside town of Port Macquarie NSW onthe 29th of January. The festival wasoriginally inspired by the All Day I Dream eventsand will featurea lineup of some of the regions finest deep, tech and progressive DJ/Producers.We sat down to talk to Jamie Green, event organiser to ask him about the festival, what attendees can expect on the day and what they need to know about the location and facilities.
Dr Mann is the solo project from Sunshine Coast based artist Danny Mann and his first single, ‘Stubborn Mule’ has a beautifully cosmic psychedelic country sound and is lyrically a song in which most of us can relate to, with up front and honest lyrics about coming to terms and the realisation of being stubborn and hard headed in a relationship at times. We caught up with Danny to ask him about his new musical direction, his first tour with AWOLNATION and his McHappy Days beginnings.
Outta The House, a celebration of Melbourne’s freedom after one of the biggest lockdown periods in the world, is happening on the 1st of January. DJ AK will feature on the indoor stage and will be joined by a range of RNB, HipHop,Funk, Afrobeat & Reggae artists gracing this multi stage festival in Port Melbourne so when we jumped at the opportunity to ask her about the Outta The House event, ego’s at festivals and her love for Tupac, Mariah and Michael Bolton.
Perth six-piece, Mal de Mer are inspired by a wide range of genres, so their music can also cross ‘funk, disco, pop and jazz’ divide. Their new single ‘Do You See Me?’, is a perfect example of their unique sound. We got to ask band member, Saskia Fleming about the new song and it’s Spotlight inspired video and her hopes of the featuring on a Parcels track one day.
LUNAR ELECTRIC’s one and only Newcastle show is happening on the !8th December, after several attempts to bring the people of N.S.W a Lunar Electric experience again it is finally happening. With the event just days away we were lucky enough to talk to Katrina Hunt, one of the organisers of L.E. about the Newcastle event, what it takes to produce a festival in the age of Covid and what punters can look forward to in 2022. .
Aussie group Sheppard have released for the festive season, ’Christmas Without You’. The new single is a poignant track for the Xmas season that will hit home for all those who are missing a loved or special someone this Christmas. Sheppard are also taking part in Brisbane’s Lord Mayor Christmas Carols this Saturday. We took time out of their preparations to ask them about the new song, performing at the carols in their home town and what they hope is under the tree come Christmas morning.
